For centuries, people have told stories of beasts and monsters. Werewolves, shapeshifters, Mothman, Bigfoot and Dogman are all examples of this. In western Kentucky, the story is that of the Beast of Land Between the Lakes, and this year the Lake Barkley Tourist Commission will hold its first-ever Beast Fest, Nov. 13-14 at the Lyon County Convention Center in Eddyville.
Jody Norwood, executive director of the Lake Barkley Tourist Commission, said that he attended a few events around Western Kentucky to prepare for the upcoming Beast Fest.
“The speakers have very interesting things to say, whether you’re a believer or not,” said Norwood.
The event features nine speakers who research topics such as Bigfoot or Dogman, two of the cryptids that people say they have witnessed in LBL.
One of those speakers will be Night Vision Paranormal, a family-owned and operated paranormal research group out of western Kentucky. The group consists of husband and wife, Billy and Jill Winsett; their son, Skylar; and Jill’s father, Mark Roberts.
“We investigate anything unknown,” said Billy Winsett. “We do ghosts, Bigfoot, cryptids, Dogman, aliens, if someone wanted it, anything they wanted us to investigate.”
Night Vision Paranormal has done several investigations at LBL in search of the Beast.
“Mark (Roberts) is the lead of our cryptid division,” said Billy. “He spends a lot of time at LBL.”
Roberts is a former police officer from Richmond, Virginia, who stated that he had an experience while investigating a burglary. He said that, when he and another officer approach a possible witness for a statement, the man disappeared in front of both of them.
“That was a precipitating factor in me being interested in this,” Roberts said.
“We had quite a bit of activity,” Roberts stated. “A surprising amount of activity, in the daytime, both visual and auditory.”
In addition to speaking at the festival, the group will also be hosting a family-friendly hike in LBL to show people how they do their investigations. The exact location will only be disclosed to ticket holders 48 hours before the hike.
“We’re going to do some investigating,” said Billy. “Show them what we do, what we listen for, tools of the trade, things like that.”
Roberts stated that there have been sightings of both Bigfoot and Dogman in both the north and south parts of LBL.
“There are sightings of those as well as other types of cryptids in there,” said Roberts. “But the lore is that Dogman is seen around cemeteries.”
Roberts added that there have been sightings of both Dogman and Bigfoot as far south as Bumpus Mills and Dover, both in Tennessee.
“There’s lots of fisherman stories, seeing them on the banks of LBL,” Jill said.
Mike Smith’s story is one such story.
“My family and I had an experience with Bigfoot in May of 2020,” said Smith, another guest speaker at the upcoming Beast Fest. In a pre-recorded video, he explained his experience.
Smith, a teacher and coach for Todd County Schools, said his experience occurred while fishing on the lake with his wife and children. The family pulled their boat over to a small area to cook hot dogs over a fire on the shoreline when Smith heard what he thought was a group of people walking. He said that after a few minutes the family no longer heard the footsteps and after eating a few hot dogs prepared to head back out onto the water.
“Right as I’m about ready to push off, I hear a knock,” he said, “like we hear on these Bigfoot shows.”
Smith said that after hearing the knocks, he slowly steered the boat around the cove and saw what he believed was Bigfoot in the trees. He made eye contact with the creature and shouted an expletive, then tried to turn the boat so his wife could see it. But the creature ran away.
“It was gone like lightning,” Smith said. “Fastest thing I’ve ever seen in the woods.”
After his experience, he contacted Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization Founder Charlie Raymond, who took him into the field.
“It just opened my eyes to what is out there, and the signs associated with Bigfoot that we often miss,” stated Smith. “I have since had encounters with Dogmen as well, which I think are the actual ‘Beasts’ of LBL as far as the famous story of the 1982 massacre and some other violent encounters over the years.”
One of the more persistent legends surrounding the Beast of LBL involves an alleged 1982 massacre in which a creature reportedly killed a family. Although there is no official record of such an incident, the story has been recounted in books, including Steve Causey’s The LBL Massacre, which also describes an alleged cover-up. Other stories involve campers who reportedly fled LBL after encounters with the Beast.
The only documented murder that occurred in LBL in the 1980s is the unsolved murder of Carla Atkins and Vickie Stout in Stewart County, Tenn. The half-sisters were found by hikers in October 1980, 18 days after they were reported missing. Both had been killed by a gunshot wound to the head. The story is covered in depth on the podcast Murder at Land Between the Lakes.
David Nickell, whose was among those displaced when the federal government acquired the land to create LBL, said he does not believe the stories. He also expressed concern about paranormal investigations taking place around former homesites and cemeteries.
“We have spent decades trying to overcome that inaccurate image of us,” explained Nickell, referring to the way contemporary newspapers and media portrayed the displaced residents. “Having a bunch of idiots running around in our cemeteries and homesites looking for something they know is not real doesn’t help.”
Nickell said he never heard stories regarding the Beast until recently.
“My family had been on our farm since the 1780’s,” Nickell said. “If there had been anything like that, I think we would have known it.”
Billy Winsett said Night Vision Paranormal respects the history of the area and recognizes the importance of protecting its cemeteries.
“We don’t want to ever put people there that’s going to vandalize,” he said.
Norwood also acknowledged the concerns of former residents and their descendants, saying the tourism commission tries to be mindful of the area's history when planning events.
“We try to be very conscientious of the events and activities that we do,” Norwood said. “But on the other hand, you know, there are those people that, they have the beliefs and the interest in cryptid research.”
Beast Fest takes place Friday, Nov. 13, and Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Lyon County Convention Center in Eddyville.
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